


What Never Was

by I_Write_Tragedies_Not_Sins



Series: Nately- AUs, Canon Divergent, and More [5]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-30
Updated: 2015-06-30
Packaged: 2018-04-06 22:33:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,240
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4239114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/I_Write_Tragedies_Not_Sins/pseuds/I_Write_Tragedies_Not_Sins
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Morninglight inspired me to do a challenge. So, I'm taking my OTP, Nathaniel Howe and Ely Cousland, and I'm doing the unthinkable- pairing them with different people! Hardest thing I've ever had to write. Concrit more than welcome! Note: I do not consider this anywhere close to canon for them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	What Never Was

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Awinters Kristin B](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Awinters+Kristin+B).



9:30 Dragon, Denerim

Eilonwy stared, emotionless, at the tarnished and bloodstained engagement ring on her finger. Rendon Howe was dead. Finally. Her family's deaths had been avenged.

 

But the emptiness inside her hadn't left. Everytime she though of Rendon, images of Nathaniel came to mind. The way he felt, the way he smelled, the feeling of completeness that she held when they touched.

 

It was gone. And with it, her sense of self had been entirely eaten away.

 

Who was she without him? Without her family? A single tear trickled down her face.

 

A warm hand covered her shoulder. "Eilonwy..."

 

She looked up into Carver's dark brown eyes, his long brown hair falling around his face. Her heart skipped a beat, much to her surprise.

 

She stood, nodding in his direction. "Carver. What do you need?" she asked briskly, arms going behind her back.

 

He shrugged. "Nothing, really," he replied, meeting her eyes. "You okay?" he added, one brow raised.

 

Ely looked down at her hand, taking off the ring and holding it gently. Was she okay? She wasn't really sure. She felt... hallow.

 

But somehow, Carver's presence seemed to lighten that empty feeling- or rather filled it up with something else. He had become her closest friend over the course of the year. He was always there, loud and impatient, but still somehow a steadying force that saved her from her worst enemy. He saved her from her own thoughts.

 

She looked up at him. "I think so," she began, shrugging. "It still feels... raw, I guess. Strange."

 

He nodded. "Yeah. You look rough," was his gruff reply.

 

Her lips quirked into a half smile. "Thanks," she said dryly.

 

"I uh, didn't mean it like that," he muttered. "I just meant you look unhappy."

 

She shook her head. "Yeah, I got that," she grunted with a smile.

 

Carver grinned. "I guess it is good to see you smile, at least."

 

She blushed. "Yeah? Thanks," she mumbled, looking down.

 

Her eyes caught the ring again and she frowned. Turning abruptly, she threw it as hard as she could. It shattered the nearby window, falling out of Eamon's Denerim estate to land in the grass below. "Fuck," she grumbled, voice wavering.

 

"Eilonwy?"

 

She looked down, shoulders hunched. Sobs threatened to escape again as she thought of everything she'd lost. She clenched her fists, knuckles turning white as her nails bit into her palms.

 

She felt his hand on her shoulder again and, without thinking, she turned and buried her face in his chest. She gripped his tunic as a few tears ran down her cheeks, body shaking slightly. He hesitated a moment before roughly wrapping his arms around her short frame.

 

"You miss that shit that much still?" he asked, voice rumbly and hard.

 

She slowly shook her head and kept her face pressed against his chest. "No. I just... miss who I was then," she whispered, voice wobbling with unshed tears.

 

His hand made an slow circular motion on her back. "Well, boss, who you are now is all right by me," he said, before clearing his throat.

 

She pulled back and looked up into his eyes. Before she could take note of what was happening, Carver bent down and pressed his lips to hers.

 

She melted into his embrace. Before now, she had only ever been kissed by Nathaniel. His kisses had been confident and passionate, full of a certainty that said he knew what effect he had on women.

 

Kissing Carver was something else entirely. His kisses were just as passionate, but with a certain hesitation, like he was unsure if she liked it. She let out a soft moan, and pressed herself closer. Kissing Carver was everything she didn't realize she needed.

~*~*~

9:31 Dragon, Free Marches

He had met her by chance one day. He was drunk. She was too, but she handled it better. A little older. Wiser. She was beautiful but his heart belonged to Ely.

 

She said her name was Isabela and sometimes, when he was too drunk to feel guilty about it, he wished he wasn't engaged.

 

And then he heard the news: the Couslands were traitors and had killed his father. Ely, his sweet Ely, had murdered his father in cold blood.

 

Anger raged through his veins at her betrayal. He stayed drunk for a whole week, cursing and talking loudly in bars about how he'd kill every last Cousland scum and their allies for what they'd done.

 

Rumors reached his ears of Ely's marriage to a commoner named Hawke. His blood boiled. Isabela took him to her bed one night, aboard her ship. With the waves rocking the ship, he poured every once of rage he had into her, making each thrust as hard and fierce as he could.

 

Her lips were warm and tasted of honey. She was the very opposite of everything his Ely had been. But what she had been was a lie, he thought bitterly.

 

Isabela stroked his arm. "If it bothers you so much, pet, why not do something about it?" Her voice was smooth and sure.

 

He grinned. "Come to Amaranthine with me?"

 

~*~*~

 

9:31 Dragon, Amaranthine

 

"Bitch! You killed my father!" Nathaniel growled, staring at Ely behind caged bars. "I'll see your head on a platter!"

 

Ely stared at him, eyes cold and emotionless. "All my enemies say that and yet, I live and they do not. Such a shame," she replied stoically.

 

Carver stood behind her, large sword in hand. "I'd be careful how you speak to my wife, fucking bastard," he said, his voice the lowest Ely had ever heard it.

 

She smiled. "I wouldn't tempt him, were I you. I'm sure he'd enjoy killing you far more than I would," she said.

 

Isabela chuckled from the shadows. "What a bore, really. Can we decide if we're going to duel or not all ready?" she asked, voice a sultry purr.

 

Ely stared at the buxom woman with distaste. "Duel? Hardly. Nathaniel Howe, there is only one punishment fitting for you: you will become a Warden, and you will serve the very people you despise. Your hussy can go where she pleases," she said, dismissing Isabela entirely.

 

~*~*~

 

9:31 Dragon, Amaranthine

 

Nathaniel stood, dumbfounded, as he watched his very pregnant sister speak with her husband. It had been their father's fault, she had said. Father had been cruel. Those were her words. His heart skipped a beat. Ely had been the victim? A shiver went down his spine as he had listened to the way Delilah had described the "Highever Massacre" as she called it.

The women he had loved had suffered and he had blamed her for it.

A gentle hand rested on his shoulder. "Love, there's nothing you can do now. That ship has sailed," Isabela said, voice soft but certain.

 

He nodded as images of Ely and Carver flooded his brain for the millionth time. He no longer burned with jealousy or anger. Now, after four months of living with the Wardens, he just felt like a fool.

 

"Maybe our ship should sail, too," she whispered.

 

He nodded a second time. "You mean, just disappear?" He glanced up at 'Lilah again. "Yeah, maybe that's for the best."

 

He turned, looking into Isabela's warm eyes. "You'll stick with me? Even though I'm a foolish idiot with bad judgement?"

 

She grinned. "Bad judgement can lead to such fun," she answered.


End file.
